HOLLAND, MI (WHTC) – An athlete from Grand Haven is one of 210 athletes representing the United States in the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Nikota Easterling has participated in Special Olympics Michigan for 10 years. This will be her first World Games experience, but she also competes year-round in events including bowling and swimming. Easterling is competing in Cross-Country Skiing.
Easterling and her siblings, Lewis and Sarah, were all adopted and all three also compete with Special Olympics Michigan. Easterling was two days old when she and her sister were adopted and she suffered from motor delays as a baby and a rare mitochondrial disorder combination in which she and Sarah are the only two in the world known to have.
Nikota’s Mom Brenda Easterling says that Nikota has overcome many of the issues and even received a “Make a Wish” trip because of it. Brenda and her Husband have taken in five children from foster care over the past 20 years.
The Games will be held March 14-25, in Graz, Ramsau and Schladming, Austria.
The Holland Polar Plunge benefiting Area 12 is Saturday, February 18, at the Elks Lodge on 24th Street in Holland. Registration starts at 11 a.m. and the first plunger jumps in at noon. You’re invited to stick around for the After Splash following the last plunger.
You can register and sign up as a team or individual all the way up to the day of the Plunge.
